Absence at Trump summit brings Asian nations closer

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump was not able to attend the Asian Nations Summit in Singapore this week, but his influence was still felt among leaders gathered in the city.

A prime minister warned that the trade war between Washington and Beijing could trigger a "domino effect" of protectionist measures taken by other countries. Another feared that the international order would divide into rival blocks.

"The most important and controversial leader …, President Trump, is the only one not to have arrived," said Malcolm Cook, senior researcher at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

And yet, in the absence of Trump, countries in Southeast Asia have continued to build multilateral trade and investment ties among themselves, including with China.

China's representative at these meetings, Premier Li Keqiang, urged them to continue.

"The world is now facing growing protectionism. It is all the more important for us to come together and respond to the complex situation around the world to defend multilateralism and free trade, "Li said on Thursday.

The US president's lack of dialogue with Asian nations came just days after a trip to France to commemorate the First World War, during which he seemed isolated from NATO allies.

Simon Tay, president of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Trump was inadvertently gathering Asian nations.

"Not necessarily on purpose, but because it's not a coherent and reassuring presence, and because its policies tend to break the natural order on which Asia depends," he said. he declared. "Asians are trying to find out what else they can do without relying too much on America."

The White House has not responded to a request for comment.

TWO POWERS: TWO STRATEGIES

In addition to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian Nations Summits in Singapore, Mr. Trump will also participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Papua New Guinea at the end of the week.

At the APEC meeting on Friday, President Xi Jinping will introduce China's Belt and Road Initiative to Pacific leaders, many of whom are expected to join the infrastructure investment campaign.

Xi's multi-billion dollar plan, which aims to strengthen an extensive network of land and sea links with its Asian neighbors and beyond, is viewed with suspicion in Western capitals as an attempt to assert 39, Chinese influence.

Trump attended the ASEAN and APEC meetings in 2017 and his decision to stay away this year raised questions about Washington's commitment in a regional strategy of fight against China.

Vice President Mike Pence, who represented Trump in Singapore, told the meeting that the US engagement in the Indo-Pacific was "unwavering and sustainable."

Asia is presenting the Trump government with some of the most pressing challenges in its foreign policy, including its strategic rivalry with China and its efforts to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Washington has touted what it calls an "Indo-Pacific" strategy to strengthen regional cooperation, particularly with India, Australia and Japan, to counter China's influence, particularly in the China Sea. controversial, where she conducts naval patrols to question what she sees. as excessive land claims of Beijing.

Pence said Thursday – without naming China – that there was no room for "empire and aggression" in the Indo-Pacific.

His comments follow an important speech in October in which he denounced Washington's harsher approach to Beijing, accusing China of "malicious attempts" to undermine Trump and reckless military actions in his country. the South China Sea.

A spokesman for the US State Department said: "We welcome China's contributions to regional development, provided that it meets the highest standards imposed by the people of the region. We are concerned about China's reliance on coercion, influence operations and implicit military threats to persuade other states to take into account China's strategic agenda. "

Shortly before Pence speaks in Singapore, the US Navy announced that two of its aircraft carriers equipped with about 150 fighter aircraft were carrying out war exercises in the Philippine Sea, a show of force in the waters located south of China and at a striking distance from North Korea.

Take sides

Pence told reporters in Singapore that he had been struck in his conversations with world leaders by "the link that President Trump established" with them through his vision of a free Indo-Pacific. and open.

However, analysts believe that Asian countries are waiting for the United States to give shape to their Indo-Pacific rhetoric. The absence of Trump at the peaks has only served to heighten the concern of the states of Southeast Asia that Washington is no longer behind.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday that it was "very desirable" that ASEAN would not be forced to take sides with world powers, but that the time would come when "we would have to choose one or the other ".

Some South-East Asian countries may be quietly impressed by the US's strong approach to trade, intellectual property, and the South China Sea, but others have made it clear that they already saw the rise of China as inevitable.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, questioned on Thursday about the US Navy exercises, said China is already occupying disputed islands in the South China Sea and added, "Why do you have to create friction … that will incite China to react? "

But Cook said the coverage of the states of Southeast Asia and their refusal to publicly criticize the Chinese aggression had contributed to Washington's changing posture in Asia.

"This change is certainly not due to Trump," he said. "The choices of the states of Southeast Asia ultimately bear some responsibility."

(This story has been redistributed to correct typos in paragraph 10.)